Tigers Grab 12th Win, Scherzer Moves to 17-1
Earlier in the week, the Atlanta Braves (70-45) grabbed win No. 12 and now on Thursday, it was the Detroit Tigers‘ (68-45) turn after they crushed the Cleveland Indians (62-53), 10-3.
This ended their four-game series against the Indians with a sweep–a first on Cleveland’s turf since June 9-12, 1988–and now the Tigers have extended their AL Central lead to seven games.
They blew the game up in the third inning with six runs, prompting the exit of Indians pitcher Zach McAllister (4-7). He had four hits, five earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts. Thursday’s outing represented his shortest one on the season.
After Wednesday’s game that went to 14 innings, the Indians had a lack of depth to cover McAllister’s short outing and by the ninth inning, the nail in the coffin for the Indians for this disappointing series came as Tribe manager Terry Francona put outfielder Ryan Raburn on the mound. Yes, this was his first outing of the season and he retired three straight batters including a strikeout by the Tigers Matt Tuiasosopo.
When he walked off the mound, Raburn received a standing ovation.
- Max Scherzer
The Tigers’ pitching was a different story as they had righty phenom Max Scherzer on the mound for seven innings. He only gave up two runs and four hits while seizing his 1,000th strikeout in his career. He is 17-1 for the year with a 2.84 ERA. Since his AL starting role in the All-Star Game, Scherzer’s gone 4-0, giving up four earned runs over 28 1/3 innings, according to the Associated Press.
He is the only MLB pitcher to have greater than 14 wins and over his 158 1/3 innings of pitching this season, he’s had 175 strikeouts. Scherzer is the first Tiger to have a 17-1 record and the first one since Rogers Clemens in his 2001 New York Yankees days to do so in the major league.
Can you say Scherzer is looking like a strong contender for the AL Cy Young Award? He sits as the 4/7 favorite.
Scherzer said of the team’s four-game sweep against their division foe via the Associated Press, “We came out here and played as good a four-game series that we played all year. Everybody played their best. All the starters, all the hitters, the relievers. Everybody did their jobs.”
On Friday, the Tigers will remain on the road and will travel to the Big Apple for a three-game series versus the Yankees. Will the Tigers grab an unlucky No. 13 win?
The Braves sit with their own 13-game win streak after having Thursday off and now combined with the Tigers’ streak, it represents the first time in major league history that two teams have had a minimum of a 12-game win streak since May 16, 1884, according to STATS.
Which team will fall first?
The Braves will face the lowly Miami Marlins (43-70) in a three-game series. They are 6-3 against the Marlins this season and they’ll get win No. 14 on Friday (-186, 7.5 o/u).
As for the Tigers, in Game 1 of their series, righty Rick Porcello (8-6) will go up against Yankees righty Ivan Nova (5-4).
Jim Leyland
The Tigers, who will enter New York with confidence, know there’s a lot of baseball left in this regular season. Coach Jim Leyland said after Thursday’s game via MLB.com, “We had a very good series against a very good team. I know what I know, and I know that they’re not going anywhere. We’re going to New York to try to win a game tomorrow night.”
Vegas gives them the win (119, 8.5 o/u).
Meanwhile, the Indians looking to snap their losing streak, will host the Los Angeles Angels (51-62) in a three-game series. Cleveland lefty Scott Kazmir (7-4) will take the mound against Los Angeles righty Jered Weaver (6-5).
The Angels are also battling a four-game skid and on Friday, it will end for the Tribe (-110, 7/5 o/u).
